binary_data_handling_string_b

🛠 Optimize binary data handling with String#b

Ruby strings carry an associated encoding, which can lead to unwanted transcoding when working with raw bytes. Appending .b returns a binary-encoded copy (ASCII-8BIT), bypassing Ruby’s default UTF-8 checks. This is indispensable when interfacing with C extensions or handling packed protocol frames.

data = File.read("image.png")       # => UTF-8 or ASCII-8BIT depending on source
binary = data.b                      # force ASCII-8BIT
puts binary.encoding                # => #<Encoding:ASCII-8BIT>
# Now you can safely manipulate `binary` without encoding transcoding